Staten Island's postmark could become thing of past if mail is rerouted

Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-HammelStaten Island's postmark may fall by the wayside if the U.S. Postal Service implements cost-cutting measures that would rerout mail from the borough.

The way Vincent Sapone sees it, the Staten Island postmark is bit like the "Made in the U.S.A." label.

"It's a point of pride," said Sapone, a 28-year employee of the U.S. Postal Service.

So when Sapone -- chief steward for mail handlers at the Manor Road Post Office in Castleton Corners -- heard talk that bigwigs are weighing whether to shut down the facility's outgoing mail processing service as a cost-cutting measure, the first thing he thought of was the postmark.

And the fact that it might not be around much longer. That's because the Postal Service is in the midst of a five-month study to see whether consolidating the processing of outgoing Staten Island mail with that of Brooklyn and Queens would make sense from an economic standpoint.

Which would mean mailing a letter on Staten Island, having it taken by mail truck over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to have it processed and postmarked, and then having Staten Island-addressed mail brought back over the bridge to be distributed here.

"No offense," said Sapone, who resides in Westerleigh, "but we don't live in Queens or Brooklyn, and that's what the postmark would say."

Not only would time be lost in the delivery of mail, contend Sapone and Rep. Michael McMahon, who opposes a consolidation of services, but so would a piece of local history.

"Every time a letter is stamped Staten Island, it's a part of history," said McMahon (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn).

Explained Sapone: "You live and work on Staten Island and you're proud to see that letter come before you on the line with the Staten Island postmark. You really take pride in it. At the holidays the postmark says 'Seasons Greetings,' with the 10314 ZIP code. The Staten Island postmark means employees work hard every day on Staten Island to run that postmark out."

McMahon has said that not only would a consolidation of services mean the rerouting of the 125,000 letters that are mailed here every day, but could mean the transfer of as many as 300 of the borough's postal workers off-Island.

That, not the possible loss of the Staten Island postmark, is what Borough President James Molinaro says concerns him the most.

"If it means having a Staten Island postmark or paying 50 cents for a stamp, what would you want?" asked Molinaro. "Would it be beautiful to be able to keep it? Yes. But everything changes. What I am concerned about is people having to pay more money to get to work, to go over the bridge, to pay the gas. The loss of revenue to the employees is what I am concerned about."